Skyrocketing prices
Gold is one of the most important valuable metals on earth. This lustrous yellow precious metal has been considered as a wealth by all countries of the world as its price measures the strength of economies, that is, when gold prices are high in a country, this means that the economy of this country is not healthy.
In Syria, the price of 1 gram of 21 karat gold was 1805 Syrian pound (SYP) in 2010, a year before the crisis caused by the terrorist war on the country started. The prices witnessed gradual increase in later years to hit 17,500 Syrian pound per 1 gram of 21K gold in 2018. In 2019, gold prices jumped to 28,000 Syrian pounds per gram of 21K gold, a 15-fold increase compared to the prices before the crisis.
However, a skyrocketing increase in gold prices in Syria has been registered this year, 2020, particularly under the coronavirus pandemic crisis and the deteriorating economic situation in the country caused by the western sanctions and the unfair coercive measures which have badly affected the exchange rate of the Syrian pound and consequently weakened the Syrians' purchase ability.
According to Ghassan Jazmati, Chairman of the Association of Goldsmiths and Jewelry Making in Damascus, gold prices in Syria have hit a record high (about 111,000 SYP per 1 gram of 21 karat gold early this month), as a result of manipulation in the exchange rate of the US dollar on the black markets that caused devaluation of the Syrian pound (2500 Syrian pound to 1 US dollar).